Package-carrier.



J. w. CLARK. PACKAGE CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED SBPT.Z6, 1906.

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J. W.'GLARK.

PACKAGE CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26, 1906. I

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JAMES W. CLARK, OF JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN.

PACKAGE-CARRIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1907.

Application filed September 26,1906. Serial No. 336,247.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, JAMES W. CLARK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Janesville, in the county of Rock and State of Wisconsin,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Package-Carriers,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a package carrier adapted to be used in storesand has for its object the provision of a device of this characterconstructed in such manner that simple and efficient means are providedfor elevating the basket well above the head of the clerk after theparcels have been placed therein, together with means for holding saidbasket in an elevated position until it reaches its des tination andmeans for releasing said basket to permit it to descend upon its arrivalat its destination.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in thedetailed description which now follows:

In the accompanying drawing: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a packagecarrier constructed in accordance with the invention and illustratingthe basket in its lowered position, Fig. 2 is a view in side elevationlooking from the opposite side ofthe device and illustrating theposition the parts lie in just before the carrier reaches the end of itstravel, and, Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the carrier with a portion ofthe carrier frame broken away.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of thedrawing.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 5 designates a longitudinallyextending bar. Mounted upon the end of this bar are the brackets 6,which carry bearings 7. Mount ed in these hearings are grooved pulleys 8which travel. upon a trolley wire 9. Depending from the brackets 6 areend plates 10. Longitudinally extending tie rods 11 and 12 extendbetween these end plates and complete the frame of the carrier.Journaled in these end plates is a shaft 18 upon which drums 14 and 15are secured' Cords 16 which are wound upon these drums pass over pulleys17 which are slidably and rotatably mounted upon the rod 11. The lowerends of these cords are secured to clamps 19, said clamps being in turnsecured to bars 20 which support the package carrying basket 21. Theclamps 19 carry eyelets 22 which are adapted to receive the lowerpointed ends 23 of the end plates 10 when the basket is in its elevatedposition, these eyelets serving to prevent excessive swinging of thebasket during its movement. The brackets 6 are covered with felt or likeyielding material as at 24, the ends of said brackets being adapted toenter between yielding buffer plates 25 when the carrier reaches the endof its travel, said buffer plates serving to bring the carrier to a stopwithout undue jar. One end of the shaft 13 passes through the end plate10 and is flattened as at 26. A drum 27 is mounted upon a shaft 28, saiddrum being located beneath the buffer plates and at the end of thetravel of the basket toward the clerk. Secured to this drum is a bellmouthed thimble 29. This thimble has an opening formed therein which isangular in cross section and is adapted to receive the flattened end 26of the shaft 13.

It will of course be understood that one of the drums 27 may be locatedat each end of the travel of the basket if desired, but this is notordinarily required where the cashier and bundle wrappers are locatedabove the main floor of the store from which the goods are sent, forunder these circumstances it is not necessary to lower the basket at thecashiers desk, but it is only necessary to lower it at the clerks end ofthe line. The use of. the flattened portion 26 of the shaft 13' and therectangular opening 30, is to provide means for forming a coupling orconnection between the shaft and the drum 27. In order to do this, somemeans for causing the flattened portion 26 of the shaft to register withthe opening 30 must be provided. In order to provide such means, I pivota latch 31 as at 32. When the flattened portion 26 of the shaft isreceived in the recess 30, this latch is held in the elevated positionby a screw or pin 33 which. lies beneath the outer end of said latch. Abracket 34. guides and aids in supporting this latch. iVhen the carrierleaves the clerks end of the line under the influence of a propellingmechanism, not shown, and which forms no part of the present invention,the pin is withdrawn from beneath the outer end of the latch 31 and saidlatch is permitted to drop into engagement with a notch 35 formed in oneof the flanges 36 of the drum 27 When this notch is in engagement withthe latch, the recess 30 is in a ver-' tical position. In order tomaintain the flattened portion 26 of the shaft 13 in a vertical positionthat it may readily enter this recess, I provide two notches in theflange 37 of the IIO . drum 14.

A pawl 38 is pivoted as at 39 to one of the end plates and is adapted toengage in these notches. This pawl extends over the top of the shaft 13and its free end overlies an arm 40, said arm projecting from a secondarm 41 which is offset from the arm 40 by a portion 42. The portion 41is journaled in a bracket 43 and is connected to a downwardly extendingrod 44, the lower end of said rod being formed into an eyelet 4.5through which a cord 46 passes, said cord being wound upon the drum 27.A handle 47 is secured to this cord.

The operation of the device is as follows: with the parts illustrated inFig. 1, a package and the money in payment for said package, is placedin the basket 21. The salesman then grasps the handle 47 and pulls thecord over to such position that by virtue of the fact that said cordpasses through the eyelet 45, the portion 41 of the rod 44 will berocked in its bearings to thereby lift the portion 40 of said rod. Thiswill in turn lift the ratchet 38 out of engagement with the notch formedin the flange 37 of the drum 14, leav ing said drum free to rotate. Thesalesman then pulls down upon the cord 46, thereby rotating the drum 27and consequently rotating the shaft 13 for the flattened end 26 of saidshaft is now engaged in the recess 30. This rotation of the shaftresults in rotating the drums 14 and 15 and in winding the cords 16thereon. The basket is accordingly elevated, the lower pointed ends 23of the end plates 10 entering the eyelets 22 as has been hereinbeforedescribed. As the drums 14 and 15 are rotated and as the cords are woundthereon, the pulleys 17 travel along the rod 11, thereby aiding inwinding said cords tightly upon the drum and centering the basket inorder that the eyelets 23 will register with the lower ends of the endplates 10. The cord 45 is now permitted to swing back to permit the pawl38 to again engage the notch of the flange 37, the drum 14 being rotateduntil this pawl engages in the notch. The carrier is now started uponits travel by a suitable propelling mechanism, not shown, the flattenedend 26 of the shaft 13 being withdrawn from the recess 30 when this isdone. The screw 33 being withdrawn by this movement-of the carriage frombeneath the pawl 31, it follows that said pawl will be permitted todrop. The weight of the cord 46 and handle 47 will now cause retrogrademovement of the drum 27 until the latch 31 falls into the notch 35 ofthe flange 36. It will now be seen that both the flattened end 26 of theshaft 13 and the recess 30 of the thimble 29 are held in such positionas to register with each other.

In the form of the device here illustrated, it is not necessary as hasbeen before stated, to lower the basket when it reaches the cashier 0rbundlewrapper, for it is intended to propel the basket to, such a pointthat such lowering will not be necessary. The return of the basket tothe salesmans sta tion, is by gravity, the yielding buffer platesserving to bring the carrier and the basket to a stop without undue jar.As the carrier moves into position, the pin 33 lifts the latch 31 fromits engagement with the notch 35 of the flange 36, leaving the drum 27free to revolve. This drum, however, will be held against rotation byvirtue of the fact that the flattened end 26 of the shaft 13 is now inengagement with the angular recess 30 of the thimble 29. The salesman bygrasping the handle 47 and actuating the portion 40 of the bar 44through the medium of the cord 45, lifts the pawl 38 from engagementwith the notch of the flange 37, thereby releasing the shaft 13 andpermitting the basket to descend.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that simple and eflicientmeans are herein provided for accomplishing the obj ects of theinvention, but while the elements shown and described are well adaptedto serve the purposes for which they are intended, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the precise constructionset forth, but includes within its purview such changes as may be madewithin the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim, is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with anoverhead trolley, of a carriage adapted to travel upon said trolley, ashaft mounted longitudinally of said carriage, drums mounted upon saidshaft, a receptacle, cords adapted to be wound upon said drums, thelower ends of which are connected to said receptacle, and eyeletscarried by said receptacle, said eyelets being adapted to receivedepending portions of the car riage.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with anoverhead trolley, of a carriage adapted to travel upon said trolley, ashaft mounted longitudinally of said carriage, drums mounted upon saidshaft, a receptacle, flexible members connected to said receptacle whichare adapted to be wound upon said drums, a rod parallel with the shaftand forming a part of the carriage, and pulleys mounted for rotation andbodily endwise movement upon said rod, said pulleys receiving saidflexible members and serving to center the receptacle with relation tothe carriage.

3. In a device of the character described,

the combination with a carriage, of a rotais adapted to receive the endof the shaft, manually operable means for releasing said r0 manuallyoperable means for impartlng rodrums when the carriage reaches a salesstatatlve movement to sald drum, means for t10n.

holding said drum against movement when In testimony whereof I affix mysignature the carriage is in transit, means for autoin presence of twowitnesses.

matically releasing said drum when the car- JAMES WV. CLARK. riagereaches the sales station, means for Witnesses:

holding the drums of the carriage against r0- JOHN CUNNINGHAM,

tation when said carriage is in transit, and HORACE MOELROY.

